The Department for Communities and Local Government says that it is not the case that communities will be at greater risk of speculative development following the end of the National Planning Policy Framework transitional arrangements today.
It says that seven out of ten local councils have now published local plans, and there is good progress across the remainder. Responding to research earlier this month suggesting that half (51 per cent) of councils in England would not have an adopted plan by the end of the NPPF transitional arrangements, the DCLG said that using adopted plan figures “only paints a partial picture”.
Our infographic below shows the increase in proportion of adopted and published local plans over the year since the NPPF was published, according to an analysis of Planning Inspectorate data. The figures show that the proportion of councils with an adopted plan has increased by 7.5 percentage points over the last 12 months, while the proportion of councils with a published plan has increased by 28.9 percentage points.
You can use our new interactive map to view the Planning Inspectorate’s latest data on local plan coverage in England.